History Flashcards
Who is Karl Marx?
19th Century German socialist philosopher, economist, journalist and revolutionist
⭐️ Wrote the Communist Manifesto
Who is Friedrich Engels?
19th Century German political philosopher and communist
⭐️Wrote the communist manifesto
⭐️ Worked in Manchester in 1840’s for his fathers textiles business , saw firsthand the i equalities of the industrial revolution
What is Marxism?
The philosophy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels about the economic distinctions and class struggle between the bourgeoisie, or capitalists, and the proletariat, or workers
What is a Bourgeoisie?
The capitalist class who own most of society’s wealth and means of production.
What is a Proletariat??
Workers or working-class people
What is Class Struggle?
a conflict between different social classes of interests between the workers and the ruling class in a capitalist society, regarded as inevitably violent.
What is Dictatorship of the
Proletariat?
The Proletariat (workers) would rule the country (intermediate stage between a capitalist economy and a communist economy)
What is socialism?
A transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism
What is capitalism?
An economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.
What is a Bolshevik?
A group of revolutionary Russian Marxists who took control of Russia’s government after seizing power in the October Revolution
What is the October Manifesto?
A document issued by the emperor Nicholas II that marked the end of autocracy in Russia to put an end to constitutional monarchy.
What is the Duma?
Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions
Who was Tsar Nicholas II?
Nicholas II was the last Tsar of the Russian Empire
⭐️Left Petrograd for front during WWI and he has no military experience and left his wife who is a German princess and Rasputin in control of Russia
What was the February Revolution? (2 govs)
A spontaneous series of strikes and demonstrations by protestors who were woman in breadlines resulting in the Tsar abdicating himself and his son on the leaving the Provisional government and Petrograd Soviet to take over
What was the Provisional Government?
Remnants of the Duma and was a temporary government until Russia was ready to create a new constitution.
What is Soviets?
Political organizations and governmental bodies of the former Russian Empire
What is Petrograd Soviet?
workers gathered and formed their own soviet/council
What is Order No. 1?
Soldiers in armed forces were now controlled by Soviet orders and not the provisional governments
Who is Vladimir Lenin?
Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. Founder of the Russian Communist Party, leader of Bolshevik Revolution, first head of the Soviet Union.
Who is Joseph Stalin?
the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union’s Central Committee
Who is Leon Trotsky?
waged Russia’s 1917 revolution alongside Vladimir Lenin. As commissar of war, he helped defeat forces opposed to Bolshevik control
What was “Peace, Land, Bread”?
Lenin’s promise of Peace (an end to the war). Bread (relief from the famine). Land (the prospect of self-sufficiency for the peasant population)
What is the April Theses?
Program developed by Lenin calling for no cooperation with the provisional government + felt Russia should love straight to a communist state
Who is Alexander Kerensky?
prime minister in the provisional government
What is the Kornilov Revolt?
Kornilov (traditionalist: believed both capital and corporal punishment were essential for enforcing order and discipline) attempted to gain control of the Russian Provisional Government, which was headed by Alexander Kerensky
What’s the July Days?
spontaneous armed demonstrations by soldiers, sailors, and industrial workers engaged against the Russian Provisional Government
Resulted in the arrest of Bolshevik leaders and dispersion of demonstrations and strikes + Lenin and Trotsky exile
What’s the October Revolution?
revolutionaries led by the Petrograd soviet where they violently overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and now, as Bolshevik’s are in control of Russia; communist state established
What’s the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
marked Russia’s final withdrawal from World War I and resulted in Russia losing major territorial holdings
What’s the Russian Civil War? (6)
The white army tried to fight against the communist idealistic being enforced but ended up losing because of
1) Their army’s disorganization
2) Leadership
3) Effectuve propoganda
4) foreign intervention melted away with the end of WWI
5) dictatorship rationalized as temporary necessity
6) Russians saw whites as trying to restore old order, which they opposed
What is the Red Army and White Army?
The Red Army fought for the Lenin’s Bolshevik government. The White Army were monarchists and capitalists
What was War Communism? ( 4 orders)
the first version of the Soviet planned economy:
1) private property prohibited
2) no strikes allowed
3) putting non-working classes (rich) to work
4) foods and goods rationed
What was the New Economic Policy? (5)
Policy made to focus on improving economy and social conditions of Russia by:
1) allowing small scale capitalism (peasants can sell their produce and can own small factories)
2) trade unions & strikes were allowed
3) foreign investment was sought out (normalize relationship between west)
4) relax dictatorial methods while maintint dictatorship
5) country becomes Soviet union/ run by
KQ: 1. Define and describe Marxism.
The political and economic philosophy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels where they explain three main ideas:
1. Class struggles between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats
2. The inevitable development from bourgeois oppression under capitalism
3. Communists and ultimately a classles society
KQ: 2. Compare Marx’s communist revolution to the Russian Revolution.
Marx’s revolution theory was that 1) the revolution must occur in an industrialized country 2) spontaneously 3) the transition (bourgeoisie will be re-educated) 4) they will become classless or property-less 5) the revolution would spread to other countries
Whereas the Russian revolution:
The takeover was done by the dictatorship of the proletariat
KQ: 3. What were the causes of the Russian Revolution?
- Feb revolution: the mismanagement of Nicholas the II leaving Rasputin and his wife to rule over Russia + the pressures of WWI that intensified all of the struggles Russians faced
- October revolution: - the provisoAl government should have pulled Russia out of the war and redisturbed land
-Lenin saying nobody should listen to the provisional government and he also wants another revolution
KQ: 4. How did Leninism differ from Marxism?
This Marxist system aims at a state of living where the society is unknowing of the difference between the rich and the poor. On the other hand, Leninism is a kind of a political system that practices dictatorship. It is the dictatorship of the proletariat. In other words, it can be said that Leninism recommends the dictatorship of the working class.
KQ: 5. Explain the February and October Revolutions.
October:
- not spontaneous (planned by bolsheviks)
-takes over key positions in moscow and Petrograd
-Russia becomes officially communist
Feb:
- spontaneous
- the people at the heart of the revolution didn’t know what they want but they didn’t like what was happening
-it was against Nicholas the II and his government
-Nicholas abdicated himself and his son and his brother abdicated (monarchy was overthrown and becomes a republic)
-power vacuum —> end up with provisional government for the meanwhile and Petrograd Soviet
KQ: 6. What were the causes and effects of the Russian Civil War?
The causes were white army (non communist) vs red army (bolsheviks) the effects: Russia came solidified as a communistste state + public unrest war communism
KQ: 7. Compare and contrast War Communism and the NEP.
War communism is much for I keeping with what Marx wanted to do and NEP is more socialist
-under war communism everything is state owned
-under war communism you aren’t allowed to go on strike and if you were in the non working classes you were out to work
-secret police, period of terror
-NEP worker can own small scale forctuerws
-NEP were allowed to sel their surplus est
-NEP didn’t prosecute everyone to the degree war communism did
-NEP was the relaxation on the dictatorship
